PM unfazed, but Downer rebukes ambassador for 'insult'

The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, yesterday lambasted Zimbabwe's ambassador to Australia as desperate and undignified, as relations between the countries deteriorated further.

Mr Downer summoned the ambassador, Florence Chitauro, to a meeting with his department following her description of the Prime Minister, John Howard, as a dictator.

Ms Chitauro was told her remarks about Mr Howard in the Herald were "completely inappropriate, utterly out of order", Mr Downer said.

"From their point of view, it doesn't enhance the status of their government," he said. "It undermines the dignity of their government, it makes their own government look desperate and undignified."

He added that was how he characterised Ms Chitauro's comments.

"We could do without the gratuitous personal insults coming from her or other elements of the Zimbabwe Government," he said. "Zimbabwe is a country which has flagrantly defied the norms of the Commonwealth."

Mr Downer said the meeting with Ms Chitauro was "brief but to the point", lasting 10 minutes.

Earlier, Mr Howard said he was unfazed by Ms Chitauro's comments and Zimbabwe's threat to cut diplomatic ties. "In fact I'm not fairly untroubled, I'm very untroubled," he said.

Mr Howard has meanwhile been labelled the "butcher of Baghdad" by a Zimbabwean government minister angry over Australia's role in his nation's suspension from the Commonwealth.

The attack came as Zimbabwe's parliament endorsed President Robert Mugabe's decision to pull out of the Commonwealth - a move sparked by the country's continued suspension from the 54-nation body.

Mr Howard's role in helping to persuade Commonwealth leaders to extend Zimbabwe's suspension angered government MPs debating the issue.

The Foreign Minister, Stan Mudenga, said Mr Howard had declared that Zimbabwe would not be re-admitted to the Commonwealth until Mr Mugabe had been removed from power.

"That was said by the butcher of Baghdad - John Howard," he said - a reference to Australia's participation in the war on Iraq.

"The decision to pull out of the Commonwealth is correct. There is no way Zimbabwe can meet Mr Howard's demands of regime change."

With the ruling party controlling all but 54 seats in the 150-member parliament, the motion's approval was expected. The 59-41 vote was one of the closest in recent sessions, MPs said.